GOP FLEXES MUSCLE ? WashPost 2-col. lead, ?Hagel pick faces a GOP filibuster: DEMOCRATS DECRY UNPRECEDENTED MOVE -- Pentagon nominee still expected to be confirmed,? by Paul Kane: ?The move was one more signal of how times have changed in the once-clubby Senate. Democrats say they think that some senior Republicans facing reelection in 2014 are so fearful of conservative primary challenges that they will ignore the bipartisan traditions of the Senate to be more in line with junior GOP senators elected on the strength of tea party affiliations. ? ?It?s just unfortunate that this kind of politics intrudes at a time when I?m still presiding over a war in Afghanistan and I need a secretary of defense who is coordinating with our allies,? Obama said Thursday in an online forum hosted by Google.? ? Republicans denied that their actions constituted a filibuster because they expect Hagel to be confirmed, and they insisted they will allow a simple-majority vote on the nomination later this month. ?
?The ? tally ? was 58 votes to end the filibuster to 40 against, ? but 59 initially backed Hagel ? Reid changed his vote to ?no? so he could use parliamentary rules to quickly reconsider the nomination. Four Republicans ? Sens. Thad Cochran (Miss.), Susan Collins (Maine), Mike Johanns (Neb.) and Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) ? joined 54 members of the Democratic caucus ? Another Hagel vote is scheduled for Feb. 26, when the Senate returns from a 10-day break. ? Minority Leader Mitch McConnell ? has deputized Sen. John McCain ? as the weather vane by which to judge when Republicans should yield.? http://wapo.st/YjmNUG
--THE TOLL ? Josh Gerstein and Glenn Thrush: ??It?s going to put him in a difficult position once he gets there,? said Bill Cohen, ? who served as defense secretary under President Bill Clinton. ? ?Those resentments will weigh around. ? I think it?s tragic what?s happening, and I think it?s shameful,? said Cohen, part of a group of ex-officials backing Hagel?s nomination. ? The president feels personally invested in the nomination of Hagel. ?Democrats close to the White House say the typically cool-headed Obama has expressed flashes of real anger at what he sees as a politically motivated GOP fishing expedition that already netted his first choice for secretary of state ? U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Susan Rice. ? Cohen said the perceived linkage between Rice?s nomination and Hagel?s makes it even more important for the White House to rally behind Hagel.? http://politi.co/XD7VPd
TRACY SCHMALER, director of the Justice Department Office of Public Affairs, departs March 8 to join ASGK Public Strategies, co-founded by David Axelrod, as managing director and head of a new practice group focusing on crisis communications, litigation/regulatory/congressional matters, and issues management. Tracy covered state politics in Vermont and Massachusetts, including a stint following Vermont Gov. Howard Dean around the country as he made a bid for the White House. He didn?t make it to Washington, but she did ? moving to the Senate Judiciary Committee as communications director to work for another Vermont political powerhouse, Sen. Patrick Leahy.? Prior to leading the public affairs shop at Justice, Schmaler oversaw Yahoo?s global public affairs office in Washington.
--Attorney General Holder: ?While I am sad to lose one of my closest and most trusted advisors, I am grateful to Tracy for her wise counsel, loyalty, good humor and unwavering support of me and the Justice Department over the last four years. Tracy has been a valued member of my senior staff and a good friend whose tireless spirit and keen judgment have served me and this Department well. She will be truly missed, though I wish her all the best in her future endeavors.?
MIKE MURPHY in the new TIME, ?Stop Campaigning, Mr. President?: ?Only a bold Nixon-to-China-style realignment of Washington?s budgeting politics can give him? ? a meaningful second term. Six magic words can unlock the door to the votes inside the Republican fortress: ?Some beneficiaries pay more and chained CPI,? budgetary code for slightly lowering benefit increases over time. Saying those words would mean the President is finally serious about facing the soaring cost of entitlements, with adjustments to future cost increases in Social Security and Medicare ? The Democratic leadership will violently oppose this, but if the President really aspires to use his political capital as he says he does, then he must use it on his own party, where it can actually accomplish a result.? http://ti.me/Vl5jLr
SO MUCH FOR PRESUMED INNOCENT: N.Y. Post cover, ?BLADE SLAYS BLONDER: Legless Olympian arrested.? http://bit.ly/ZeZ0u3 ... N.Y. Daily News cover, ?BLADE GUNNER: Legless Olympian charged in murder of model gal pal.? http://nydn.us/vp5qdB
--BREAKING ? ?Pistorius statement disputes he committed murder,? by AP?s Gerald Imray in Pretoria, South Africa: ?Oscar Pistorius held his head in his hands and wept openly in court ? as prosecutors said they would pursue a charge of premeditated murder against the Paralympic superstar. ? Pistorius' family and his London management company issued a statement calling into question the criminal charge the 26-year-old athlete faces. ?The alleged murder is disputed in the strongest terms,? the statement read. The statement did not elaborate.?
**A message from the National Association of Manufacturers: Manufacturing means jobs, and we have a plan to get our economy moving again! Manufacturing supports one in six private-sector jobs. We are the voice for the 12 million men and women who make things in America. Visit www.nam.org/stateofmanufacturing to read our Growth Agenda.**
THE NEW AGENDA ? Atlanta Journal-Constitution, middle of page, ?Obama touts pre k; details yet to come: Local programs to be blueprint for U.S. initiative,? by Daniel Malloy, Nancy Badertscher and Greg Bluestein: ?Obama traveled to Decatur on Thursday to tout his plans to expand pre-kindergarten education nationwide ? But the details and cost of Obama?s initiative remain in flux, and any new spending faces difficult odds against a deficit-conscious Congress. The midday visit brought flocks of onlookers to DeKalb County?s side streets and shut down interstates as the presidential motorcade traveled from Dobbins Air Reserve Base. Obama, in his first visit to Georgia since June, played learning games with 4- and 5-year-olds at the College Heights Early Childhood Learning Center and then spoke at the Decatur Recreation Center about the need for universal pre-k. ?Hope is found in what works,? Obama said.?
--With A1 pic: ?President Barack Obama uses a magnifying glass to play with AnnMarie Sawyer, 4, at College Heights Early Childhood Learning Center.?
COMING HOME ? L.A. Times 2-col. lead, ?U.S. toll down, but Afghan war goes on: As more troops withdraw, fewer are dying. But that may not mean the Taliban is losing, analysts say,? by Shashank Bengal in in Kabul: ?Over the last 25 days, something unusual has happened in Afghanistan: Not one U.S. service member has been killed. The lion?s share of the fighting ? and dying ? is now being done by Afghans. The last American troop death, from injuries suffered in a December roadside bombing, occurred Jan. 20, marking the longest stretch without a fatality since 2008 and offering a glimmer of evidence that the United States? 11-year war is in its twilight. Deaths among U.S. troops in Afghanistan last year reached a four-year low as commanders hailed a tipping point in a conflict that has claimed more than 2,100 American lives. ? Afghans now lead well over 80% of combat operations and control areas where more than three-quarters of the population resides.?
MOOD MUSIC ? N.Y. Times 2-col. lead, ?Confidence on Upswing, Mergers Make Comeback: Market Rises and Economy Strengthens ? Buffett Joins a Deal to Buy Heinz,? by Peter Lattman, with Michael J. de la Merced: ?The mega-merger is back. For the corporate takeover business, the last half-decade was a fallow period. Wall Street deal makers and chief executives, brought low by the global financial crisis, lacked the confidence to strike the audacious multibillion-dollar acquisitions ? [I]n the opening weeks of 2013, merger activity has suddenly roared back to life. On Thursday, Berkshire Hathaway, the conglomerate run by Warren E. Buffett, said it had teamed up with Brazilian investors to buy the ketchup maker H. J. Heinz for about $23 billion. And American Airlines and US Airways agreed to merge in a deal valued at $11 billion. Those transactions come a week after a planned $24 billion buyout of the computer company Dell by its founder, Michael S. Dell, and private equity backers. And Liberty Global, the company controlled by the billionaire media magnate John C. Malone, struck a $16 billion deal to buy the British cable business Virgin Media.? http://nyti.ms/XIUD7u
--WSJ 4-col. lead, ?Heinz Sold as Deals Take Off?; refer box: ?Return of Big Deals? ? Financial Times splash, ?Buffett and Brazilian tycoon make $28bn move for Heinz ? Dealmaking tide rises ? More targets sought.?
ELEVATOR FODDER -- USA Today cover story, ?The fiction behind ?early? flights: AUSA TODAY analysis shows that major airlines pad the numbers, creating new problems for passengers,? by Thomas Frank: ?One in five domestic flights on major airlines got to the arrival gate 15 minutes or more ahead of schedule in 2012 ? the highest early-arrival rate since the DOT began tracking arrival times in 1987 ? Early arrivals partly result from ? airlines ? padding flight schedules and cramming more people on airplanes. ? The steady expansion of the times means that an ?early? flight often takes longer than it once took. The average flight from Boston's Logan airport to New York's LaGuardia took one hour in 1995. In 2012, it took 75 minutes. Yet the Logan-to-LaGuardia early-arrival rate soared to 38% last year from just 2% in 1995 as Delta and US Airways added nearly 20 minutes to the schedule. ? [S]ome padding reflects industry caution, ? as the DOT, responding to passenger frustration over extreme delays, has stepped up its authority to fine airlines for delays.? http://usat.ly/XCY9N0
FIERY FRESHMEN:
--Sen. ?Ted Cruz [R-Tex.] comes out swinging,? by Manu Raju: ?[T]he no-nonsense freshman has quickly become a lightning rod ? on issues ranging from guns to Chuck Hagel?s nomination for defense secretary ? upending the Senate?s conventional ways ? Cruz?s sharp-elbowed Senate style underscores the dilemma facing Republicans as they seek a way out of the political wilderness: Rising stars like Cruz, a tea party favorite, are winning elections and GOP primaries. But their no-compromise, firebrand styles could turn off voters eager to see the two parties start making deals. ? Behind closed doors, some Republican senators report that Cruz, in his stone-cold serious prosecutorial style, speaks at length when it?s far more common for freshmen to wait before asserting themselves ?
?[I]n response to written questions, Cruz [said]: ?I made promises to the people of Texas that I would come to Washington to shake up the status quo, to fight for conservative principles and to lead a concerted and meaningful effort to end the unsustainable spending, deficits and debt that have been propagated, unfortunately, by members of both parties ? Of course comity is important, but comity does not mean avoiding the truth concerning a nominee?s policy record.?? http://politi.co/XdvuyG
--Boston Globe 1.5-col. lead, ?Warren rips deals with big banks,? by? David Uberti: ?Senator Elizabeth Warren was ? quiet during her first month ? But that changed ? at the Massachusetts senior senator?s first hearing, when she rebuked federal regulators for settling civil cases with big banks instead of taking them to trial. ? Looking at the seven regulators arrayed before the Senate Banking Committee, ? she [said:] ?The question I really want to ask is about how tough you are ? about how much leverage you really have ? Tell me a little bit about the last few times you?ve taken the biggest financial institutions on Wall Street all the way to trial.? ? But none of the witnesses ? representing the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and others ? offered a response. ?Anybody?? Warren asked, pursing her lips and raising her eyebrows above her glasses.? http://bo.st/Vkxomb
2016 WATCH ? RICK PERRY MAY RUN ? Jonathan Martin in Austin: ?The other big question now hanging over Texas is whether Attorney General Greg Abbott is feeling as emboldened as Cruz. Abbott, who has held his office for a decade, is sitting on an $18 million war chest and is mulling whether to run for governor in 2014. That could mean a primary challenge against Perry, who is now in his 13th year as governor and has been back in the news for another job poaching run in California. But the betting in Austin is that the governor could forgo a fourth gubernatorial campaign to prepare for another run. ?If he doesn?t run for governor, I assume he?ll run for president,? said one Perry adviser.? http://politi.co/WMvitG
2014 WATCH -- The? (Newark) Star-Ledger, ?Series of ailments tells Lautenberg not to run: Senator, 89, vowing high-impact work over next two years,? by Matt Friedman: ?Sen. Frank Lautenberg [age 89] ? said he won?t run for a sixth term next year, winding down an almost 30-year career in which the scrappy senator fought the alcohol, tobacco and gun industries. ? [H]e has ? fought for pet issues: funds for transportation projects, reducing drunken driving and ridding public places of cigarette smoke.?
--Maggie Haberman writes that the announcement helps pave the way ?for Democratic Newark Mayor Cory Booker to assume the spot. ? [H]e had bristled publicly at Booker?s designs on the seat ? All public polls in recent weeks had shown Booker leading Lautenberg. However, it?s not clear that Booker ? will have a glide path. Rep. Frank Pallone ? has a close relationship with Lautenberg and a $3 million war chest ? Other Democrats who may run are Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver and State Senate President Steve Sweeney. Rep. Bill Pascrell (D-N.J.) declined to comment on whether he has a favorite in the Democratic primary, or if he himself is interested. ? Lautenberg retired from the Senate in 2000, but stepped back in when Sen. Robert Torricelli was engulfed in ethical problems.? http://politi.co/WtQZNs
MEDIAWATCH ? ?Megyn Kelly Pregnant With Third Child,? by TV Newser?s Merrill Knox: ?A Valentine?s Day announcement from Megyn Kelly this afternoon on her Fox News Channel program: the ?America Live? anchor is pregnant with her third child. Kelly?s announcement came after meteorologist Janice Dean asked Kelly if she and her husband, novelist Douglas Brunt, exchange Valentine?s Day gifts. ?We always struggle to find just the right gift, and yet this year I believe that we?ve found the perfect solution ? Happily, Doug and I are expecting another baby.? Kelly and Brunt are parents to three-year-old Yates and one-year-old Yardley.? http://bit.ly/12K9SfZ
--GLEN JOHNSON SUCCESSOR ? Dylan Byers: ?National Journal?s Jim O?Sullivan is heading to the Boston Globe and filling the position former online politics editor Glen Johnson left open when he resigned ? to work for Secretary of State John Kerry. O?Sullivan will be taking over Johnson?s post on Political Intelligence, the Globe?s deputy managing editor for local news Jennifer Peter wrote in a memo to staff. ?For Jim, this will be a homecoming ? He grew up in Cohasset, graduated from Boston College, and worked at the Dorchester Reporter and State House News Service, before heading down to Washington three years ago. ? Talk to this guy for five minutes and you will realize he lives, sleeps and breathes Massachusetts politics.??
--MIKE TACKETT?Memo yesterday from Bloomberg News Executive Editor Susan Goldberg: ?Since 2008, we have been lucky enough to have Mike Tackett at Bloomberg News in Washington as Political Editor, Bureau Chief and Managing Editor. His tireless work with the election team led by Al Hunt was a major reason the coverage made us all proud. Beginning today, Mike takes on a new role that will use his deep knowledge of Washington and national politics to produce marquee Bloomberg News stories under his own byline. We expect Mike's enterprise to cover a broad array of topics from policy to politics, from the White House to Congress to how federal mandates are playing out in the states. ? Mike, who will continue to be a Managing Editor, will report to me. ? Mike has covered every presidential election since 1988 and ... launched the Chicago Tribune's first political blog, The Swamp. ?
?Tim Franklin ? Managing Editor in charge of the regulation and contract teams, will add supervision of the government teams to his portfolio, becoming Managing Editor/Washington. He and Cesca Antonelli, our extraordinary Managing Editor/Bureau Chief, will jointly coordinate all government and political coverage across these teams.? ? During [Tim?s] five years as editor of The Baltimore Sun, his newsroom was a Pulitzer finalist for local reporting.?
BIRTHDAYS: Josh Marshall ... Bloomberg's Jonathan D. Salant (hat tips: Patrick Gavin) ... former Illinois Congressman John Anderson is 91 ? former Defense and Energy Secretary James Schlesinger is 84 ? Susan Brownmiller is 78 ? Melissa Manchester is 62 ? "Simpsons" creator Matt Groening (GREE'-ning) is 59 ? Darrell Green is 53 (h/ts AP)
**A message from the National Association of Manufacturers: Manufacturers make our lives better. They design innovative products that save lives, improve our work and keep us connected on a daily basis. The state of the union is strongest when the manufacturing sector is vibrant and productive. The state of manufacturing and the 12 million men and women who make things in America rely on pro-growth policies to keep us competitive in a global economy. Visit www.nam.org/stateofmanufacturing to read our Growth Agenda.**
Source: http://feeds.politico.com/click.phdo?i=c0f68d97627e1c1d5eb9a81e33dc9fe5
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